Life in a Northern Town

2008-05-26T16:27:00.002-05:00

So a lot has happened in the past month. I got a job, graduated and it got sort of warm. Big milestones!! I suppose I'll have to stop posting here altogether since I blessedly will no longer be Living in a Northern Town. If I learned nothing else during my time in Madison, it's that I am not at all cut out to live up north. While my northerly friends may call me a wuss, I'd like to see them in Lexington in mid-August, then we'll see who's the basketcase! Although I was reading in the park today (it's sunny and 76! God be praised!) and was getting hot. I will need to reacclimate, and fast.

The one not-so-great thing about this warmer weather is that I have my windows open... and so do my neighbors. I find it baffling that I have not one, but two neighbors who are in love with Elton John. The across-the-alley neighbors were blasting "Tiny Dancer" and other assorted Greatest Hits which I vainly attempted to drown out by turning up the volume on my TV. Alas, the sounds of British comedy are helpless against Sir Elton. Things have also not improved with the Elephant Man, whose acquaintances have taken to leaning on the buzzer for twenty minutes when he doesn't answer, a buzzer I can hear clearly. Occasionally they will also stand below my window and shout "MIKE! HEY MIKE! LET ME IN MIKE! MIIIIIKE! COME ON MIKE! LET ME IN!" I am sorely tempted to lean out my window and yell, "IF HE DIDNT ANSWER HIS BUZZER THE FIRST 2195 TIMES YOU RANG, HE'S NOT GOING TO ANSWER TO YOUR SHOUTING AT HIM FROM THE ALLEY! HE LIVES IN A ONE-ROOM APARTMENT, IT'S NOT LIKE HE'S COMING TO ANSWER FROM THE EAST WING!" But I don't, because then they'd start yelling at me to let them in, because they are obviously dumber than a box of hammers.

There are many things I will miss about Madison (things I am reminded of as it slowly becomes not a barren wasteland), but this apartment is certainly not one of them.

2008-04-28T16:59:00.003-05:00

In two days, it will be May. Today, I wore a sweater, my winter coat and a scarf. It rained ice, then it sleeted, then. it. SNOWED. SNOWED! ON APRIL 28! WHAT!

The homicidal rage is making it really hard to concentrate on the one problem set, three papers, two presentations, and exam I have to get through before the end of the semester.

19 days till graduation... 19 days till graduation... 19 days till graduation....

2008-04-16T14:36:00.002-05:00

I haven't talked much about my assistantship much on here. It's a pretty good job, and I am actually more committed to it right now than I am to my classes (which granted isn't saying much since my level of interest in school is at about -114% right now). I'm a Project Assistant, which means I do a little bit of everything- making posters, contacting speakers, arranging dinners, logistics, paperwork, etc. I've realized I really like project management, which is pretty valuable knowledge at this point in my life, but also, this job lets me meet a lot of really cool people.

For instance, yesterday I chatted with the former Ambassador to Nigeria at the copy machine. And I'm pretty friendly with the former head of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, who works a few doors down. Tomorrow I'll meet the former chief U.N. weapons inspector to Iraq, since we're hosting him as a speaker this week. The speaker we had last week is the newly-appointed UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food.

It's not like I'm going to go out and have a beer with any of these people, but for a policy nerd like me, it's pretty sweet. Now if only one of them could get me a job....

2008-04-12T14:59:00.003-05:00

Aaaaand it's cold and snowing again. It's almost like Wisconsin wants me to leave. I'm going, okay?! You don't have to keep pressuring me!

I saw this outside my apartment this afternoon:

Even Nature is sad about Wisconsin's crapulent weather.

2008-03-12T13:40:00.002-05:00

Today is a glorious day, one to be written about in tones usually reserved for the laying down of arms or heavenly proclamations. A day that, a month ago, mired in the frozen slush and bogged down by eighteen layers of clothes, I never thought would arrive. And yet, here it is, sneaking in with no fanfare or declaration, surprising us all. A momentous, memorable, spectacular day.

I am only wearing one pair of pants.

Because it's 38 degrees! It's so amazing, even though the sidewalks are like fast-running creeks and water is everywhere and my socks are wet, because it means things are MELTING!!! Grass, I saw GRASS! That green stuff that covers the ground most of the time! And the forecast lists above-freezing highs for the next ten days! Exclamation point!

Now I'm daydreaming about flowers and sitting outside by the lake. I know we're probably in for at least one more snowstorm, but things are finally looking up. I wonder if Mayor Dave's "Screw You, Winter" official proclamation had something to do with it.

WWTL: Yellow.
Temp: 38!!!

2008-02-20T10:05:00.003-06:00

Last night I had the most wonderful dream. I dreamt I turned on the news, and it was 36 degrees! I put on just one pair of pants and one pair of socks. I wore my second-warmest jacket- without a hat. I laced up a pair of shoes that wasn't my hiking boots or my snow boots. I was so happy. My happiest dreams no longer involve me on a tropical beach with Sayid from Lost. They involve temperatures above freezing.

Then I woke up and found ice on the inside of my window. So I put on two pairs of pants, my giant red puffy coat (and a hat), two pairs of wool socks, and my hiking boots. I went to catch the bus. It was -17 degrees out. The bus didn't show up for 25 minutes. Why? Who knows. While trying to decide if my toes were still attached to my body, I began to understand why so many serial killers come from the Upper Midwest.

Temperature: 3/-12
WWTL: What do you think?

2008-02-11T23:05:00.001-06:00

I can now add a new experience to my list of Unpleasant Things I Have Dealt With. When one walks to the bus stop in subzero temps, and finds it necessary to wear sunglasses because the glint from even the weakest sunlight off the sheets of ice covering every surface is literally blinding, one often finds that said sunglasses fog up as one's 98-degree breath filters upward through the three layers of scarf, coat and hood. Today, I noticed that my sunglasses were not de-fogging. I took them off to discover that my breath had, in fact, frozen onto the lenses. Awesome.

Here are photos from last Wednesday evening, after it stopped snowing and the cleanup began.

That snow's not piled up on a curb- it's actually that deep.

Bobcat clearing snow from the sidewalks.

Dump truck taking snow to be dumped out of town.

That snow-fence is probably about shoulder-high on me.

And now some photos from my weekend away in Galena, Illinois:

A little knee-deep hiking.

Playing in the snow with my friend Lindsay.

Sean makes snow angels while Patrick watches me try to get up.

Snow is a lot prettier in the countryside.

Temperature: 4/-5 windchill
WWTL: Alarmingly red.

2008-02-10T21:20:00.000-06:00

From the National Weather Service:

"The winter season of 2007 to 2008 has been quite snowy across southern Wisconsin. In fact... Madison is close to setting its all time seasonal snowfall record for a winter season. Through February 9... Dane County regional Airport in Madison has recorded 75.5 inches of snowfall. This amount ranks as the third snowiest winter season on record in Madison. ... Madison will receive several inches of snowfall late Monday into Tuesday morning... breaking the all time snowfall record."

75.5 inches. What.

This is what it looked like outside on Wednesday because even though we got 14 inches of snow in less than 24 hours and the wind was terrible and you could barely see because snow was blowing directly into your eyes, I STILL HAD TO GO TO CLASS.

Stepping out my front door.

Do you see a sidewalk there? Yeah, me neither.

At least I didn't have to ride my bike.

Somewhere back there is a lake. It's kind hard to tell on account of THE WHITEOUT CONDITIONS.

I'm SUPER EXCITED that we'll have over TWENTY INCHES OF SNOW on the ground tomorrow. Knee-high snow when you're playing outside at your friend's vacation home (as I was this weekend)? Fun. Knee-high snow when you have to get to classes on the other side of campus? THE OPPOSITE OF FUN.

Current temp: -6/-23 windchill
WWTL: AS RED AS POSSIBLE.

2008-01-31T20:04:00.000-06:00

I experienced something new today: an "ice quake." Yeah, I'd never heard of it before either. I was in my campus office when all of a sudden the entire building shook for a couple seconds. My officemate and I were baffled, and everyone on the floor was out in the hall asking what it was. I thought it might have been an explosion from some construction nearby. Nobody knew for sure, so we all went back to work. A few hours later, someone on the hall stops in and tells us that the ice on Lake Mendota cracked, hard enough to shake most of the city. There's a story on it here. I don't know about you, but I think that's pretty cool. One good thing to come from the -30 windchills yesterday.

This is Restaurant Week in Madison, where the super-fancy restaurants offer three-course menus for $25. My friends and I are headed up to Harvest in a few minutes. Be jealous.

I really shouldn't be going, because by 6pm Friday I have to turn in a 3500 word policy analysis suggesting ways the World Health Organization can induce Indonesia to give up its samples of bird flu so a vaccine can be developed. (Indonesia is reluctant to do so because it knows it won't be able to afford the vaccine that comes from their samples, so they're boycotting on equity principles.) We got this project yesterday, giving us 48 hours to research, analyze and write this thing. I'm outing myself as a total nerd by saying I'm actually kind of enjoying it. I like problem-solving! But I love gourmet meals too.

2008-01-16T21:47:00.000-06:00

There's really no better welcome back to the Great White North than getting off your bus from the airport at 9:30pm only to realize that the bus to your apartment isn't running because classes aren't in session. Also, it's 20 degrees and snowing. On the plus side, a "warm" spell over the holidays melted most of the three feet of snow that was on the ground. You can see grass in some places! It's amazing!

Of course it's going to snow another 6 inches tonight and tomorrow. Luckily my boss lets me work from home when it snows, which means sitting in my pajamas watching Little House till noon while working on my laptop. Sweet. Things are going to change drastically when classes start. Which is probably a good thing, I've become quite a slug.

I bought four different kinds of cheese at the grocery store, which brings my cheese count to 6 (goat cheese, mozzarella, sharp cheddar, mild cheddar, asiago/parmesan and gruyere). I'm confident it will be up to 8 by next weekend when I get some fontina and bleu from the coffeeshop. In other news, why I've gained 10 lbs since moving here remains a mystery....

Here are some photos of the snow before I left for the holidays.

My neighborhood.

State Street.

Snow piles from half a block of plowing. They have dump trucks that come in and haul the snow away because it won't fit on the sidewalks.

Temperature's fine today (it actually hit the freezing point! Woo!) but the high for the weekend is 1. So I'm putting the WWTL at orange.

2007-12-10T22:11:00.000-06:00

It will not stop snowing. Seriously. The mayor said we've had 21 inches since the beginning of December, and it snowed another couple of inches today. The piles on the side of the road are up to my shoulder, which makes trying to get from the bus to the bar kind of interesting: either walk in the middle of the road to a plowed corner, or scale the dirty snow pile like a mountain climber. For a city that experiences as much snow as Madison, you'd think they'd be a little more competent in their snow removal.

Here are some photos for you to enjoy from your non-frozen Southerly locales. I tried to get some of the gigantic snow piles, but my batteries died. I'll try again tomorrow.

State Street last Saturday, early during the first snowstorm. Much later my ex-roomies and I would attempt to go see a movie but give up after spending 20 minutes trying to get out of the parking lot.

The Capitol during the same storm.

My friend Jennie is sad that her bike is covered in snow (she still rode it home, because she is hardcore). This is from the Tuesday storm.

State Street from the campus end, Tuesday night.

Yesterday I went outside and thought, "Huh, it's not too bad out." It was twenty degrees. Dark times lie ahead, yall. Dark times.

2007-12-09T21:32:00.000-06:00

The semester is almost over, thank God. I should be way more stressed about it, but I've been reading the completely fabulous and totally absorbing Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver, and wondering if I shouldn't just chuck this whole advanced-degree thing and just grow plants and write stories instead. Too bad it's not very lucrative, especially compared to the diamond-encrusted, luxury-car world of nonprofit environmental work. Though compared with the prospects of finding a job in the coming months, eking out a pantry from the ground might be less challenging.

I finally met the Elephant Man who lives upstairs. Like my neighbors next door, he also has a penchant for Whitney Houston, and he was enjoying "I Will Always Love You" so thoroughly that I had to knock on his door and ask him to turn it down. Tonight he was listening to Elton John (hold me closer ~~Tony Danza~~ tiny daaaaaancer!). I'm beginning to suspect that the women's voices I occasionally hear coming from upstairs might just be his friends.
Current Temperature: 26
WWTL: Yellow

2007-11-29T09:23:00.000-06:00

Seriously now. This is from "The Curse of Natural Resources" by Jeffrey D. Sachs and Andrew Turner, published in the European Economic Review in 2001:

"With the emergence of the petroleum-based economy and revolutions in global transportation, cheep energy can be transported today in a way that was impossible earlier." Followed a few paragraphs later by "One of the consequences of resource abundance in the 1970s was that other businesses in resource-abundant country's had to try to compete with higher than normal price levels."

Really? Really?? The first error, well maybe there's some kind of baby-chick-powered engine that I'm blissfully unaware of, but are you telling me a former adviser to the UNDP, IMF, World Bank, OECD and World Health Organization and current Harvard professor DOES NOT KNOW HOW TO USE THE PLURAL POSSESSIVE?! And nobody at the presumably venerable European Economic Review caught that either?! The current article I'm reading (which is from the Journal of Development Economics) is having problems with subject-verb agreement and comma placement. Are they getting their copy editors off of Craigslist?! What the hell? It's a good thing I'm not the editor of an academic journal, because people would be getting fired.

In other academically-related news, my research on the resource curse in Latin America (whereby economies that depend heavily on natural resource exports suffer low or negative growth rates) is revealing numerous parallels with coal mining in Appalachia. Which does make my research for my paper on economic alternatives to coal mining easier, but is extremely depressing.

Also, I think tomorrow I'm going to have to break out my puffy coat. It's not even December and I'm already wearing two pairs of pants.

Winter Weather Terror Level (WWTL): Yellow

2007-11-06T21:00:00.000-06:00

It has begun again. It snowed last night. And not the pretty, big, white flurries that look like Christmas. No, this was the pointy sleety kind, the kind that really hurts as it blows directly into your eyes at 30mph. I was pretty much blinded as I was stumbling towards the car to go to the grocery store. Not the most auspicious beginning to the winter. Plus, stupid daylight savings time means it's totally dark by 5:30 so I just want to sleep all the time. Bring on the hibernation!

I haven't updated in awhile because my life is pretty much just work and school. There seriously are not enough hours in the day to get my crap done. By which, of course, I mean there are not enough hours in the day for me to get my crap done while also watching TV, wasting time online and going to bed early.

How much longer till the end of the semester?

Winter Weather Terror Level: Blue/yellow.

2007-09-28T00:33:00.000-05:00

A Few Brief Items:

In an unfortunate incident involving some potatoes, a chopping knife and my left thumb, I now have 9 and 7/8ths fingers. It happened as I was home waiting for the AT&T guy to come and hook up my internet. I was bleeding all over the place, but I had spent 3 hours on hold while navigating some Kafkaesque hell of voice-automated messaging in order to GET the guy to my apartment, AND I had been without internet access for almost 2 weeks so no way was I missing this appointment. Which made for an interesting scene when the guy showed up. "Uh... are you okay?" "YES I'M FINE GIVE ME INTERNET!"
My new apartment is nice, but very loud. Between the Elephant Man tromping around above me (ooh, there he goes again! It's like he knows I'm talking about him!) and the guys next door who have every conversation at the top of their lungs, it can get annoying. Although at least the guys next door seem to be having a good time: apparently one of their friends had a jumpin' birthday party last week with lots of honeys. Plus they like to sing along to Whitney Houston.
The Crazy-Ass Fundies are back in full force out on Library Mall. Last Friday I stopped to listen to the crowd of people argue with them. The first guy told everyone that "the Bible has done more for women than feminism ever has" because "the Bible tells women where their place is!" And then he quickly conceded the floor to an older, much angrier man who apparently decided that speaking calmly was for godless liberals and went with the good old-fashioned "DAMNATION!!!" approach. The highlight of the whole thing, though, was when some random old dude walking by interrupted the CAF telling a lesbian that her father is ashamed of her and said, "I'm a father, and I know your father loves you. Just be happy!" Everyone applauded and cheered while the CAF screamed about special layers of hell, handbaskets, brimstone, blah blah de blee. I left after that, but I'm pretty sure no one was converted that day.
I went to the World Music Festival on campus, and saw this insanely good Gypsy band from India. One of the guys pulled out this Jew's-harp-type instrument and I swear to God it was like a Gypsy techno rave. It was amazing. After rocking out for a few crazy songs, a fakir came out and FREAKING ATE FIRE RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME! And then he stood on a bed of nails! While balancing a terra cotta jug full of water on top of two glasses on top of his head!!! See for yourself!
So far the weather's holding out, but we did already have a frost. I'm enjoying the warm temperatures, but with a mounting dread. It's only a matter of time....

2007-09-06T13:54:00.000-05:00

So it's been awhile since I've posted, but a) my life has been crazy and b) I have no internet access at my new apartment and probably won't for another week. As you can imagine, I am going through serious withdrawal. I've only got a half-hour before class, so this will be brief but I know some of you were wanting to hear about my trip to El Salvador.

In a nutshell, it was amazing. The trip was packed full from the moment we got off the plane, but I had a wonderful time. The countryside was lovely, the food was great, and the people were incredibly warm and generous. Given that the civil war only ended in 1992, almost everyone we talked to had a war story. Most of them were guerillas fighting the (US-funded) military. I heard some absolutely bone-chilling, horrifying stories of atrocities committed by the (US-funded) soldiers that would have been unbelievable had the person telling us the stories not seen it firsthand. And everyone had stories like that. One woman had had all three of her daughters stolen- literally ripped from her hands- by soldiers. She found one of them many years later, but the other two are still missing. The woman I stayed with in the village lost her oldest son. One man lost four of his five children- three killed in the war, one killed himself afterward because he was unable to live with what he saw. And these horrors were all helped along by the US government to the tune of $1 million a day. Gotta fight those
~~impoverished peasants and small children~~ Communists!

But it wasn't all horror stories. Las Anonas, the village in which we spent most of our time, was just wonderful. The children were so adorable- every time we pulled out our cameras they would swarm us, wanting to have their photo taken. The women cooked delicious meals for us outside under the common shelter. We had meetings and celebrations in the Community Center. There were lots of "slogans," where the Erica, the local CRIPDES (a community building organization) leader would shout "Viva El Salvador! Viva Las Anonas! Viva Cuidades Hermanas! [Sister Cities]" and everyone would shout it back. It was great. The sense of community was incredible- nearly everyone in town came to the meetings.

I was really struck with how happy people were. By our standards, they are impoverished- no indoor plumbing, latrines, subsistence farming. Most of the adults are illiterate and barely went to school. But as Maura, the woman whose three daughters were stolen, said, "I'm either fine or I'm dead." I guess living through unimaginable suffering puts a different perspective on things. We spent many evenings after dinner just chatting with the villagers, laughing and joking and talking about politics. (Well, I didn't participate so much as listen to the girl translating for me.)

Other than hanging out in the village, we saw other sites: the church where Archbishop Oscar Romero was shot by the government, the University of Central America where six Jesuit priests, their cook and their daughter were dragged from their beds and shot by the military, the nature preserve of Cinquera where I sweated my butt off and then swam in a waterfall, a rebuilt church were I was inspired by the story of liberation theology, the war museum with its American-made guns and bombs, the cashew nut cooperative where I was inspired to see how impoverished people can pick themselves up out of poverty without wrongheaded neoliberal policies. (Why yes, it was a pretty political trip, why do you ask?)

We also, excitingly, held a press conference presenting the letter signed by 41 US Congresspeople denouncing the political repression and human rights violations. And by "we" I mean three of the Spanish speakers. I mostly just stood in the background. But I had a very stern look on my face. No word yet on whether it actually made it to TV (it's very controlled by the right-wing government).

So it was an incredible trip. I learned so much, and am even more excited about my Latin American Politics class this semester. I have photos posted at my Flickr site. I'll add more soon!

2007-07-26T23:41:00.000-05:00

It's finally storming! All summer I've been waiting for a good, Midwestern thunderstorm and have been disappointed, but now we've got one. It's very satisfying, especially since the weather has been relentlessly beautiful: deep blue skies without a cloud in sight, upper-70s, nice breeze. I was actually starting to get sick of it. I know I should appreciate every lovely moment because it's only a matter of months before it gets kicked to pieces by winter's jack-booted thuggery, but sometimes you just want to lay on your couch and watch six hours of Law & Order: SVU without feeling guilty about it! Is that too much to ask?!

The added bonus to this pleasant thunderstorm is that it has stopped the strange, pounding construction noise from a few streets over. I'm guessing it's construction, because what else could it be, unless Optimus Prime has suddenly shown up in Madison. Though it's strange that it continues into the late evening. Also it has kept the total morons in my neighborhood from lighting off loud, obnoxious fireworks. Like I've said, you can find rednecks anywhere.

Yes, yes, I know this is completely pointless and rambly, and really the only reason I'm posting is that I have to stay awake another half-hour so I can take my stupid typhoid vaccine. I forgot that I had to take it today (the last dose, hooray!), and I was cavalierly eating Combos until I remembered, and since I have to wait 2-3 hours after eating to take it (and then another hour before I can eat again, and I had to take four doses, every other day, with a glass of chilled water. Could this be any more complicated?), I'm trying to keep myself awake.

Hopefully my next post will be very good news, but since I don't want to jinx it, all you readers (all four or five of you) will just have to wait with bated breath to see what it might be! Or you could just ask my parents.

2007-07-08T10:14:00.000-05:00

Hiking in Wisconsin is not quite the same as hiking in other places. Most notably for the fact that it's boring. Some friends and I went camping last weekend to Yellowstone Lake, and while the lake was quite nice, the hike? Yawn. The first part was around the lake and near a wetland, so that was pretty (we saw a heron), but after that it was pretty much like hiking through someone's pasture. I think Kentucky and Virginia just spoiled me on hiking. I'm used to seeing this:

instead of this:

Oh well. It was fun anyway. There were lots of hotdogs and s'mores.

The lakes here have started to really smell. I mean, really smell. Like someone dumped 2000 gallons of Eau de Sewer Stank into them. Apparently it's blue-green algae, which looks like this:

This is why fertilizing your lawn is bad. And people are still swimming in the lake! Gross! It doesn't help that it's really, really hot here (in the mid-90s) and it hasn't rained in awhile. I'm actually glad I don't have lakefront property at the moment. I do wish I had air conditioning because my apartment is approximately the temperature of the surface of the sun. Thank god tomorrow it's going to be back to normal (low 80s).

I uploaded a bunch of photos from camping, around town, the coffeeshop where I work, etc. They're here if you're interested.

2007-06-21T13:01:00.001-05:00

My, how the tables have turned. It's true that Madison is just lovely in the summer, and it's made all the sweeter by the fact that now I'm the calm one and everybody else is freaking out. Seriously, I was at my friend's lakehouse this weekend and it was maybe about 87 degrees. Everybody's like, "Oh my god, we're going to diiiiiie, it's sooooo hot!!" and I'm like, "Mmm, nice!" Who's laughing at who NOW, Wisconsin?

I'm getting to explore more of Wisconsin, or at least the southern area of it. My friend's lakehouse is in Oconomowoc, which is pronounced Oh-CON-a-ma-wok and is extremely fun to say. In fact, so are a lot of Wisconsin place names: Menominee, Baraboo, Waukesha, Oshkosh, Sheyboygan, Lac du Flambeau (which I think means "flaming lake" and also is the not-so-Native-sounding name of a band of Chippewa). Not as creative as Pippa Passes or Monkey's Eyebrow, but not bad for a state that's not Kentucky.

I went to Milwaukee for the first time on Monday to see a Brewer's game. Incidentally, it was also the first time I've ever been to a baseball game where the home team won. The Brewers played the Giants and everybody boo-ed Barry Bonds. I adapted "Come on F(r)eel the Noise" to "Come on Feel the 'Roids," though "adapted" is pretty generous since that one line is pretty much all I came up with. (Aren't you thrilled I got that song back in your head?) It started pouring as we left the stadium, and in a show of just how much I've adapted to the Wisconsin lifestyle, I stood out in the rain with my friends and drank a beer in the parking lot.

2007-05-15T15:30:00.000-05:00

Unless I somehow manage to fail a 100-question Scantron test in my undergrad class on Thursday, I have survived my first year of grad school! Between statistics class and the winter, it was rough going there for awhile, but things are a lot nicer now that classes are over and it's warm. In celebration, I went to the public library to check out a nice juicy stack of pleasure reading.

This weekend I participated in a strange Wisconsin tradition: drinking out of a boot. I'd heard of "getting a boot" before, but had never actually seen it in person. It is a curious ritual with many rules:
1. One must be sure that the toe of the boot points up as one drinks.
2. One must never allow the boot to touch the table.
3. After one takes a drink, one must flick the boot before passing it to the next person, though adherence to this practice is not strict.
4. And finally, if one finishes the boot, the person who passed you the boot must purchase the next boot. This, of course, encourages that most holy of Wisconsin pasttimes, Perfecting the Art of Chugging Beer.

It's probably the most fun you can have with a life-sized glass boot, and I now feel further initiated into the First Wisconsin Church of Beer. Seriously, I've never met drinkers like Wisconsininians before, and not just the drunk frat guys. It's like a lifestyle, where the goal isn't to get as drunk as possible, it's just to drink. Kind of like wine is for French people, I guess. Except instead of a fine Burgundy, it's Pabst.

2007-04-21T13:46:00.000-05:00

Okay, Wisconsin, I accept your apology. Even though I know you're only going to hurt me again, I sort of love you right now. Why?

BECAUSE THE FARMER'S MARKET IS BACK!!

I was positively giddy this morning as I drank my coffee, put on a sundress and flip-flops and walked the four blocks to the Capitol. It was packed, as one might expect for the opening day of the country's largest farmer's market on a gorgeous April day. My preferred circuit of the Square is, of course, against the flow of the tide of people, but I like to get to the Kettle Corn people last. It's hard juggling a bag of piping-hot, fresh-popped kettle corn while you're trying to elbow your way to a booth to buy something.

Since it's so early in the season, it was mostly just flowers and herbs (and after my pathetic attempt to grow some on my windowsill last summer, I just bypassed those booths), but I did buy some delicious-looking tomatoes, as well as a Farmer's Market canvas tote bag, because I was just so excited about it. And kettle corn, of course. Next week I'm bringing more money so I can buy some cheese (I saw gouda! The King of Cheeses! And it wasn't outrageously expensive!) and some of this awesome sweet basil and tomato sauce I sampled.

Add this to the fact that on Thursday, I put away all my sweaters and pulled out my summer clothes, and it's supposed to be 76 degrees tomorrow (with a chance of thunderstorm!), I almost don't care that I have a macroecon exam on Monday. (Also I might not care because that class is unbelievably boring and I hate it.)

Here are some photos, courtesy of my brand-new camera!

Cheese!!

Entertainment.

I think we're going to make some guacamole and/or nachos with of these tonight.

The Capitol. Would look better without my camera cord in the way. Oops.

2007-04-11T18:59:00.000-05:00

I woke up this morning to snow. A lot of it. There was about an inch on the ground, and it was still snowing heavily. Today broke the snowfall record at 4.9 inches (interestingly, the old record was set on April 11, 1997). It's supposed to snow again tomorrow.

Okay, Winter. You win, I lose. I give up. Wave the white flag of surrender. I promise to get the hell out of this state as soon as I get my diploma. Clearly you don't want me here, and frankly I don't WANT to be here, so I'll go as soon as I can, okay? I'll get a job someplace where the seasons are respectable and know how to behave.

When this alleged "summer" rolls around (if it actually even exists up here, I have my doubts), if I start feeling better-disposed to this place, I'm going to read this blog to remind myself what lies ahead.

2007-03-16T22:58:00.000-05:00

Dear Winter,

It's mid-March now, and I've noticed that, well, you're still around. I was going to say something earlier, but last week it appeared you finally conceded the floor to Spring. But this morning I awoke to snow. I did my best to convince myself that it was simply lovely white petals from flowering trees adrift on the warm breeze, but my frozen ears and nose forced me to face the truth. It's time for an intervention.

Seriously, Winter. You need to give it up. It's over. Accept it, let Spring do her job. You proved your point, you drove me to the point of near-insanity, but after last week's 60-degree temps, now you just look sad and pathetic. You realize that all the other seasons are laughing at you, right? I mean, seriously. It's MARCH. You've become the Gary Busey of the weather world. Do you really want to end up selling prayers to the desperate on the Nominal Christian Channel? Pack it up, go to the Southern Hemisphere for the next six months and GET OUT OF MY LIFE ALREADY.

You suck and I hate you,
C.

2007-03-04T20:45:00.000-06:00

A reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Americans:

"Yea, and I say unto you: Ware! Ware, ye denizens of the warm lands to the South! Steel thyselves against the siren song of Madison, the duplicitous seductress of the Northern wastelands. Many men have ventured there and many men there also have met their doom. She will lure thee in with well-spun tales of lovely winters, quality public education and a vibrant city life. But take heed! No sooner will thy enter her gates when she will snap them shut like the jaws of a jackal, unleashing the demons of winter. O, she will play thee false, this frozen Jezebel disguised as maiden! Too late will her treachery be revealed, for the winter is long and arduous and as cold and dead as the heart of Ann Coulter. Madison may ply thee with a day of sun and warmer temperatures, but this is the true cruelty! Verily, there are only weeks of snow and gray before thee. Woe betide those who find themselves ensared in Madison's unholy trap, for the demons feast on their wills to live, rendering them unable to nought but lay prone on chaise or bed, awash in the glow of the pixelated entertainment that dances before their glazéd eyes.

Therefore I beseech thee: turn back! Turn back if thy valuest thy soul! Turn back while thou still has life in thee! For those who have fallen to the wicked city, we may only pray, pray for the salvation of their curséd souls! Pray, and send care packages stocked with Girl Scout cookies. For yea, I say to thee, it is that time again."

WWTL: Orange.
Temperature: 25 degrees. Still. Like it will be tomorrow. In March. Sigh.

2007-02-26T20:07:00.000-06:00

It started snowing at 4pm Friday and did not stop snowing till maybe about 6ish tonight. That is a whole lotta snow people. (I am not using contractions because for some reason the apostophe key brings up the "Find" bar on Firefox. The quotes, however, work fine. I will investigate later.) Anyway, there is about 20 inches on the ground (class did not get cancelled, sigh). Here are some photos!

Around the corner from my place. I like the DVDs for eyes.

Boy am I glad I don't have a car anymore.

Bascom Hill

This thing is about 6 feet tall. Extremely impressive! I wish you could see the detail- it's very well-done.

There are more photos at my Flickr site.

2007-02-23T23:04:00.000-06:00

Holy crap, yall, it's a freaking blizzard! I just attempted to get to my friend's house for a party despite the fact that the snow is already above my ankles and still falling fast. No matter! I'm intrepid! So I strapped on my hikers, bundled up and headed for the bus. However, after tramping through the snow, flailing wildly at a bus to get it to wait for me, climbing on said bus only to realize it's the wrong bus and shamefacedly shuffling off at the next stop, I decided that perhaps this party was not meant to be for me tonight and headed home.

Remember that scene in Laura Ingall Wilder's The Long Winter, where she and some of her schoolmates are lost in the blizzard, trying to make it home with snow whirling around them, worried that they might not survive the night? That's how I felt as I plodded up the hills back to my apartment, except I didn't think I was going to die and I had a bottle of wine and nachos waiting for me instead of, like, journeybread and hash. As an added bonus, some guys catcalled me as I waited to cross the street (as I'm sure I was looking super-hot in my giant red puffy coat and hat pulled down over my forehead) and ten yards later they were pushing their car up a snow-covered hill. Eat karma, suckas!

I'm actually not terribly upset about this meterological downturn after last week's 40-degree, one-pair-of-pants weather, because it's kind of fun to see Wisconsin freak out about snow. As long as the cold doesn't last as long as before, because I was really starting to lose it.

2007-02-15T18:27:00.000-06:00

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

I think I can burn my red winter coat with the power of my mind. The offering will summon the gods of Spring.

WWTL: Redrum

2007-02-04T01:15:00.000-06:00

This is devious weather. You wake up in the morning, look out your window at the bright sunlight glinting off the snow, the blue sky inviting you to come outside and you think, "Wow, what a lovely day! I can't wait to go out!" Knowing it's still going to be chilly, you put on your long underwear, your wool socks, your jeans, your long-sleeved t-shirt, your sweater, your puffy coat, your scarf, your hat and your gloves. You zip, button and snap your coat closed, pulling your hood over your hat and snapping it together over your nose and mouth. Thinking yourself sufficiently dressed for a nice, sunny winter's day, you step outside.

And then immediately you wish for death, because the innocently shining sun was hiding a cruel truth: that it is actually NEGATIVE ONE THOUSAND DEGREES OUTSIDE. Have you ever felt the snot inside your nose freeze? IT IS NOT COMFORTABLE. No matter how tightly you secure your coat, the wind finds a way to get in through the seams and stab you repeatedly. Your fauxPod seems to enjoy torturing you by playing a series of warm-weather songs ("Sky Blue" by Peter Gabriel, Gershwin's "Summertime" sung by Peter Gabriel, "Exposure" by Peter Gabriel, anything by Rusted Root). You try not to cry as you wait for the bus, and then when you make it to your nice, warm office you make another critical mistake: you check the forecast. And you wish you were dead again, because the high temperature for the next several days is NO DEGREES AT ALL. There's a Special Weather Advisory for the windchill, which is expected to reach THIRTY BELOW. We are in NEGATIVE DOUBLE DIGITS. When WISCONSIN is like, "Holy shit, guys, it's effing freezing!" you know that WE ARE IN THE END TIMES.

FOR REAL, PEOPLE. IT IS -24 DEGREES OUTSIDE AND I JUST WALKED HOME FROM WORK IN IT.

Oh god, this is what evil feels like.

Temperature: -10, -24 with windchill
WWTL: RED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2007-01-28T15:39:00.000-06:00

There are a number of random, interesting things to do on campus, and I've decided I should take better advantage of them. Yesterday, my friend Andria and I went to a Roma folk dancing lesson. I was slightly disappointed because Andria told me it was going to be Israeli folk dancing, and I thought there might be klezmer music, but Gypsies are cool too. However, their folk dances are hard. The teacher was like, "Okay, here we go. Left, right, hop, touch, right-step, left-front, hop, hop, touch, spin, right, right, left-back. Now with music!" Uh... sure, pal. I did learn a few dances, which was cool and made me feel coordinated, but of course I've forgotten them already. There's a lot of step-hopping involved.

It is, of course, cold up here. It snowed last weekend, which was really pretty, and it's supposed to snow again tomorrow. Here are some photos:

Em, that one's for you.

Outside my apartment on Sunday.

Lake Mendota, frozen. I saw my first ice fishermen!

Temperature: 15 degrees/windchill: 5 degrees
WWTL: Orange.

2007-01-21T09:50:00.000-06:00

Well, I sold my car, and just in time, because today I woke up to see SNOW. Lots and lots of it. They're expecting about 5 inches, which, on top of the 4 or so inches that are already on the ground, would probably necessitate me having to move my car. But I don't have to! Because I sold it!

Though I shouldn't sound so thrilled about it. I did love that little car. He may have been prone to having things break down, snap, and fall out on the interstate, but he was a good companion for more than 4 years. I'll miss you, Samwise. I hope you serve the cute musician from Milwaukee as well as you served me. Except maybe without the breaking down so much.

I was going to go to my friend Adam's today to watch some important Badgers game or another (football? basketball? I don't know, I'm just there for the pizza and beer) but with all the snow, I don't know if the buses will be running. Though, this is Madison, 9 inches of snow is probably pittance here. I kind of want to go play in it!

Temperature: 26 degrees
WWTAL: Yellow

2007-01-18T17:42:00.000-06:00

Well, I'm back. After four weeks of unspeakable laziness and general sluggery, I'm ready to start classes. I went to work for a few hours, but due to some missed connections with the girl who's interested in buying my car, I don't have anything to do so I'm back to watching TV on the couch. I'm justifying my indulgences with the fact that classes start on Monday.

It's snowing here, but just lightly. It's very pretty. It's cold, but there's no wind so it's not too bad. More later, when I actually have something to report.

WWTL: Blue/yellow.
Current Temperature: 27 degrees

2006-12-11T20:46:00.000-06:00

Things I Need to Do Before the End of the Semester (or, How Little Sleep Can I Survive on for One Week?)

~~read International Governance article (by Wednesday)~~

~~write memo on said article (by Wednesday)~~

~~finish stats problem set (by Thursday)~~

~~study for stats exam (by Saturday)~~

~~study for econ exam (by Tuesday)~~

~~take stats exam (Saturday)~~Let's not talk about it. The important thing is, it's over.

~~finish 20-page research paper (by Monday)~~ And it ROCKS!

~~take econ exam (Monday or Tuesday)~~

~~get oil changed (by Monday)~~

~~finish Madison-based Christmas shopping (by Monday)~~

~~pack to come home (by Tuesday)~~

I WILL make it to the end of the semester. I may be a trembling wreck of a human being by the time I get there, but IT WILL NOT BREAK ME.

WWTL: Yellow.

2006-12-06T21:21:00.000-06:00

Despite what previous posts might convey, there are moments when I enjoy being in grad school.

A few nights ago, my friend Julie and I were at Barriques as usual (it's a good thing I work there because I'd be broke without my discount), me doing homework and she reading her Economist. We didn't get much done because we kept interrupting each other with interesting things we came across. We discussed Burma, aka Myanmar, and the political significance of names. I got my mind a little blown by my textbook that grouped Al-Qaeda in with non-governmental organizations, commonly thought of as non-profits. (Technically, it's true. For a certain sector of society, Al-Qaeda represents their interests and provides social services when the government does not. Heavy, man!) We talked about the importance of the spectrum of activism. I get to have this exchange of ideas quite often, both in class and over beers. It's pretty awesome.

I'm even enjoying writing my term paper on debt-for-nature swaps. Of course, I'd love to be spending all my time researching it instead of wasting hours on deciphering statistics software, but the important thing is is that there are only 3 more stats classes before the end of the semester. And the program has an incentive not to fail me, because if I have to take this class again, I'm dropping out and taking my exorbitant out-of-state tuition fees with me.

But I digress. I'm actually looking forward to next semester, when all my classes will be ones I'm interested in. (Yes, even macroeconomics. I've gotten really interested in economics this semester, and the potential to use economic means to solve environmental problems.)

I think the core reason I enjoy grad school is that it gives me a chance to blatantly, unabashedly rebel in my nerdulence.

Current Temperature: 18; windchill: 3.
WWTAL:Yellow-Orange.

Edited to add: I just saw tomorrow's temperature and I made a sound like this: aachhuuuuuuuuuuuhhhwuuhhuguhhhh.

2006-11-30T15:38:00.000-06:00

After a few days of warmish weather, winter has returned with a vengeance. It's currently about 19 degrees outside with a windchill of 1. My roommate warned me to wear long underwear, but I just wasn't ready. Why didn't I listen? Oh God, why didn't I listen?!

On the plus side, my apartment is nice and cozy and decorated for Christmas. I can listen to Christmas music out in public now, instead of hiding away with my headphones, my Rat Pack Christmas album, and my shame. This would be a lot more enjoyable if I didn't have end-of-semester exams and projects hanging over my head. I initially came back from Thanksgiving break feeling recharged by my fabulous family and ready to tackle the last few weeks of school.

But then last night I spent two soul-crushing hours with a stastical analysis software program called STATA. Remember DOS? Remember trying in frustration to remember all the DOS commands and their proper syntax? STATA is a lot like that, except instead of trying to run a sweet monochromatic text-based role-playing game, you're analyzing wage data from 1987, and instead of feeling pride that you're able to work a computer, you feel the vague sense that you might rather be in prison. Two hours and I only got through one problem.

Thank god this semester is almost over.

WWTAL: Yellow.

2006-11-20T12:07:00.000-06:00

Random Randomness:

1. There was a guy standing on the Library Mall the other day holding a sign that said "Free Hugs." I almost took him up on it because he was cute, and then I remembered about stranger danger. (I guess that would make him Weird Library Mall Person #4?)

2. My framed Last Temptation of Christ soundtrack LP flung itself off the wall and broke on the floor. I have no idea why this happened. Julie thinks God's trying to warn me to turn back to the Catholic Church (maybe when its bishops stop forcing churches to play taped messages about how good Catholics will support gay marriage bans), but I prefer to think my room is possessed, Amityville-style.

3. This happened a few weeks ago, but it still bears mentioning. As I was walking to meet my friend at the coffeeshop, I suddenly found myself in a Legalize Marijuana rally. I was walking down from the Capital as the marchers were walking up and all of a sudden, there I was. My friend calls, asking where I am. "Um, I'm in a pro-pot rally," I say. "It was an accident!"

4. Today the bus driver on the #9 handed me a packet with a recipe for Sweet Potato Souffle and some tips on winterizing my home. I don't know why, either.

Winter Weather Terror Alert Level: Blue (downgraded from a Yellow last week)

2006-11-08T07:30:00.000-06:00

To the 59% of Wisconsinians who are assholes: Way to enshrine discrimination in the state's Constitution. At least you can sleep easier now knowing that the Big Evil Gays aren't going to get married and impugn the sanctity of straight marriages for people like Rush Limbaugh and his four different wives. Way to be assholes, assholes.

To Virginia, South Carolina and Tennessee: Thank you for making it even harder for me to say the South isn't a bunch of bigoted, homophobic rednecks. The ban passed with 80% in Tennessee! Are you kidding me?! Yes, you're completely entitled to your misguided religious beliefs that God hates gay people, but here's a news flash: THE GOVERNMENT IS NOT YOUR PLACE OF WORSHIP. When Jerry Falwell finally gets caught in some kind of meth-fueled orgy with male transvestite prostitutes (because no one that virulently homophobic is not actually gay), I'm going to have a freaking party.

When history passes judgement on you, I hope it's really, really harsh.

PS. Arizona, way to rock it out. At least SOME people understand the separation between Church and State!

2006-11-02T17:40:00.000-06:00

YELLOW ALERT! YELLOW ALERT!

I wake up this morning, go out to the living room, pour myself a cup of coffee Roommate Kate had oh-so-generously already prepared. I'm sitting and chatting with her and her boyfriend, when Kate says, "Is that snow?!" I turn, fear in my heart, to see this:Oh yes, it may look pretty but the 28-degree temperature and 18mph winds aren't quite so charming when you have to get to class. It's NOVEMBER 2, PEOPLE. It is TOO EARLY FOR THIS! I actually wore the puffy coat today, that's how bad it was.

Luckily Halloween was not so cold, and a whole lot of fun. My friend Julie and I dressed up as Newsies:
Our costumes were a big hit, and we ran into a group of Newsie guys out on State Street, which was completely great. Plus, the night didn't end in pepper-spray and tear gas, so that was a nice bonus.

In other news, I am no longer barely suppressing the urge to drop out of school now that I'm done with my paper on the World's Most Boring Report in the History of Ever. (Regulatory Reforms in OECD Countries: From Interventionism to Regulatory Governance. Still awake? Imagine reading 120 pages about it.) It was a really poorly-written paper, but I just couldn't do anything with it. And my reign of mediocrity continues. I have a few days' breather till I have to start studying for my Stats and Econ tests.

Is it Thanksgiving yet?

2006-10-19T23:09:00.000-05:00

This past weekend I went on a camping and canoeing trip. It was a lot of fun, but would have been even more enjoyable had the temperature not been approximately that of liquid nitrogen. At one point, a bunch of us were laying on a sandbar in the sun. I said it was like being in the Bahamas, except that instead of bikinis we were wearing fourteen layers of clothes (I'm not kidding). On the plus side, I have discovered the wonder that is long underwear. Is it comfortable? Sort of. Is it attractive? Oh hell no. But boy does it keep you warm!

So it's been getting colder and rainier here (no snow since the scare last week), which I guess is good because midterms have kept me busy. (As an aside, I got a B on my stats test. That's right, A B! IN YOUR FACE, STATISTICS!!) I was, however, walking to class the other day and thought, "Man, I can't wait till it gets warm again." And then I remembered that that won't happen for many, many, many months. And lo, I was sore afraid.

Right now we are at level blue-green (or teal) on the Winter Weather Terror Alert Chart.

Red: Hell has frozen over; Satan stalks the streets and demons eat our souls.
Orange: All hope has been abandoned; death is preferable.
Yellow: Frigid wind is relentless and cuts to the bone; death might be preferable.
Blue: Temperatures fall; hat and gloves are a necessity.
Green: Balmy!

2006-10-11T17:11:00.000-05:00

YOU GUYS! IT IS SNOWING! IT IS SNOWING, YOU GUYS!

YOU GUYS.

IT.
IS.
SNOWING.

UNACCEPTABLE.

2006-10-05T01:05:00.000-05:00

Dear Drunk, Obnoxious Blonde in Front of Me at the Carbon Leaf Concert,

I came to see Carbon Leaf, not you. I appreciate that they are "like, your favoritest band!" but they are also one of my favorite bands, and have been for probably a lot longer than you. Your flailing dancing, overzealous caressing of your chest and constant blowing of kisses are not endearing, they are horribly annoying. Perhaps you didn't notice the rest of the band laughing at you? Barry is not your soul mate, he's a lead singer of a semi-popular band that sees slutty groupies like you all the time. Calm down and let me enjoy the show.

No love,
C.

Dear Possibly Drunk, Equally-Annoying Friend of Obnoxious Blonde,

The first couple times you asked me if I could see over you were polite. The fourth, fifth and twenty-seventh times were far more annoying than your potential view-blocking could possibly be. If you're than concerned that you're in my way, MOVE. And take your jailbait with you. You're lucky my roommate didn't punch you, because I assure you, she was very, very close to doing so.

You suck,
C.

Dear Not-Drunk Unfortunate Companion of Obnoxious People,

I appreciate your attempts to keep your rude and tasteless friends in check. Next time, could you teach them a little show etiquette before bringing them in public?

Thanks,
C.

Obnoxious people notwithstanding, it was a fun show (though I do enjoy their older stuff a lot more), and I got to meet the band. All of them (except lead singer Barry, who, while hot, is a little full of himself) were really gracious and were excited that I've been a fan since the days they played the old Roanoke College gym. Plus I got a sweet t-shirt and some cheap CDs.

Live music rocks my world.

2006-09-28T23:50:00.000-05:00

Did you know? Rural southerners are all ignorant, backwoods rednecks who are afraid of the big city! They don't have any culture and should just be written off because they have nothing to offer and nobody can learn anything from them. Mostly because they are Christian and vote Republican.

It's true! The overwhelming genius and non-assholery of a classmate of mine proved it to me by shouting over my appalled defiance and his insistence that he knows all about "these people." I mean, he lived in southern Indiana for a couple of years! Well, that certainly entitles him to blanket an entire subset of the population with a ridiculous stereotype, and to completely write off my experience.

MAN I hate this guy. He seems to think he's just engaging in friendly debate, because after his outrageous displays of arrogance and elitism, he tries to joke around with me. Last night I said, "If you say 'these people' one more time, this conversation is over." Of course, he did, so I immediately turned away from and started talking to my friend. I guess this wasn't a big enough hint, because a little bit later as he was getting ready to leave, he shakes my hand and tells me how much he likes talking with me.

"You know I'm holding these conversations against you," I told him icily. He laughed, "I know," like I'm not serious and actually enjoy a constrant stream of offensive stereotypes presented as political analysis. I kind of grimaced. "Okay, see you later." What I really wanted to say was "You're an asshole, you suck and I hate you. Shut the eff up and never talk to me again." But I was raised with better manners than that.

Though if this keeps up, those manners might get left in the dirt. Sorry, Mom.

2006-09-21T23:08:00.000-05:00

Weird Library Mall Person #3

This older man was standing on one of the raised platforms, holding a battered leather-bound folder. I didn't notice him at first as I was getting my burrito from one of the Mexican food carts, and then he starts singing. Well, not so much singing as chanting in a simple melody. "Infinite wisdom and mercy and love... Deep breath for peace for the country of... South Korea!" A brief silence in which I soon realize he is, in fact, taking a deep breath. For peace. And again: "Infinite wisdom and mercy and love... Deep breath for peace for the country of... Kazakhstan!"

I'm not entirely sure how taking a deep breath in Madison, Wisconsin will increase the peace in Kazakhstan, but maybe it's one of those butterfly effect chaos theory things that Jeff Goldblum talks about in Jurassic Park (which was on the other day and man, dinosaurs will never, ever stop being awesome). Maybe sucking up the air in Madison is depriving some military dictator of vital oxygen halfway across the world. But what about countries that are already pretty peaceful, like Denmark? Does he still breathe deeply for them? I didn't stick around to find out, though. I'm curious, but not that curious.

So, pretty odd, but as far as Weird Library Mall people go, I kind of liked him. At least he wasn't yelling about those idolatrous Jews. Or masturbation.

2006-09-17T22:31:00.000-05:00

Still no financial aid money. My level of frustration with these idiots is through the roof. Seriously, all that needs to happen is someone official (i.e., not me) needs to tell Sallie Mae that I am, in fact, enrolled at UW and that I'm not asking for more money than I need. This can even be done electronically. And yet Great Lakes (UW's guarantor) and the UW Financial Aid office are fighting over who has to do this!

So of course, the logical solution would be for Great Lakes to fill out a piece of paper with the pertinent information and send it to me, so I can send it to Sallie Mae. The woman I talked to at Financial Aid gave me the impression that she thought my getting a blank form in the mail was a very real possibility. If that happens, you'll probably be able to get the details on the evening news.

Classes have started, and, as expected, I like International Governance, am indifferent to Micro and I hate Statistics with the firey passion of a thousand suns. I don't understand it, but I can't be bothered enough to try to understand it because I don't care. I DON'T CARE. I don't care why we have to take the mean of whatever to find out the probability of something else. I don't care how the variance formula is derived and why we square some number to get the proper calculation for a Greek symbol whose meaning I can't remember. I swear to god, someone could point a flaming arrow at my face and tell me to use Bayes' Theorem to find the probability of X and I would say, "Whatever, just shoot me." I hate it, I hate it, I! hate! it!

Roommate Kate is actually vacuuming crumbs out of the couch rather than do her statistics. I predict that the worse stats gets, the cleaner our house will be. I'll bet we could figure out a statistical formula related to that, but I think I have some stabbing myself in the eye to get to instead.

2006-09-06T21:58:00.000-05:00

I could write about my battles with Financial Aid, and how I spent over an hour on the phone getting bounced from person to person, and how I discovered that both of my loans are missing some tiny yet vital piece of paperwork that nobody thought it was important to inform me of, and how I AM SO SICK OF DEALING WITH THIS CRAP AND GIVE ME MY MONEY ALREADY!!!!

But I won't. Instead, I'll talk about how much I love UW's campus. There is so much going on all the time. It's a big change from Roanoke, where the biggest thing happening on either Quad was some dudes tossing a lacrosse ball around, or some sorority girls sunbathing in bikinis even though the temperature is 57 degrees.

But not here! This afternoon on the Library Mall there is a guy holding a giant sign that has a bunch of stuff on it- the Darwin fish, the word "gays," the Star of David, etc.- in a circle with a line through it. The sign-holding guy looks pretty bored, because it's the other guy who's getting all the attention, as he is yelling quite loudly about repenting and how everyone's going to Hell except him and the sign-holding guy.

Yes, it's a Crazy Fundamentalist! Normally, these kinds of people piss me off because I'm pretty sure the Beatitudes aren't "Blessed are those who spread hate," or "Blessed are the asshats." But this time I just had to laugh because this guy? Was shouting- at the top of his lungs and in public- about masturbation. Now that's not a subject I'd expect to hear about in public, much less multiple times and at high-volume. It was too surreal. I wasn't the only one who thought it was funny because there were plenty of other bemused students standing around and laughing, and I actually heard one girl on her cell saying, "Oh my god, you have to come see this crazy guy!"

Later on in the evening, there was a new scene on the Library Mall: knights. Not Of Columbus, but the kind in armor. Who swordfight. In fact, that's what they were doing, as some lovely damsels did a dance (kind of like the dance some background characters are doing in the wedding scene in Monty Python and the Holy Grail). It was like stumbling on a mini-Renaissance Faire. I watched for a few moments and a guy wearing period dress handed me a flier for the Society for Creative Anachronism. "You could do this in your free time, if you wanted!" he said. Um, no thanks. It was fun to watch though.

And now it's time to read "Governance in Public Administration and Public Policy: Steering Inter-Organizational Networks." Don't be jealous.

2006-09-03T12:41:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I spent a lovely day outside, and today I'm paying the price, allergy-wise. I've been watching Little House on the Prairie for most of the afternoon because this show is freaking great, blowing my nose and wiping my eyes. (Gross! Willie Olsen was hiding in the store and watching Laura try on a dress! Will this be a Very Special Episode in which we learn how to deal with underage Peeping Toms?) It was worth it though. Roommate Kate, her friend and I went to a party in the park near our apartment, and then to Taste of Madison on the Capital Square. It was packed, and every other person was wearing a Wisconsin t-shirt. Apparently that's really common; Kate said Madisonians- and Wisconsinites (Wisconsinians? Wisconsinonians?) in general- always have closetsful of Wisconsin t-shirts to prove their Wisconsin pride.

Could it be? Could I be living amongst people whose state pride outstrips my own? I don't have any Kentucky t-shirts! I have already defended Kentucky's honor a few times to doubters, but I don't have any clothing-based beacons to broadcast its awesomeness to any who might look upon me. I feel like a failure. I'm sorry, Kentucky! I promise that once I have more than $14 in my bank account (every day I check my mailbox in hopes that my financial aid check has arrived), I'll order some t-shirts.

Moving on. After Taste of Madison (pumpkin spice cheesecake and an ear of roast corn, delicious!) I went to a friend's for a cookout. The weather's been beautiful, which makes staying indoors today hard, because I know it's not going to last. I want to be able to do some hiking before it's -151 degrees outside. Hopefully staying inside today will mean I can go outside tomorrow. Or that my allergy prescription will start being worth its outrageous price tag.

Orientation was this week, which was a nice change of pace. My classmates seem pretty fun, though the assessment exam for Statistics and Microecon was brutal. Fractions are the devil's work, I tell you. (Though this kid on Little House is now doing complex long division (or "cipherin'") in his head. Now I feel stupid.) But everybody else seems to be in the same boat, so hopefully I won't be too far behind.

This show so One Life to Live on the Plains. Laura and that hodag Nellie Olsen are catfighting! Nellie totally deserves it for lying to Laura about the teachers' exam and then flirting with Almanzo. Now she's lying to Charles about Laura and Almanzo kissing! What a bitch. They weren't kissing, though Almanzo is flirting with her pretty hardcore, and he's quite a bit older than she is. I forgot about the age difference, that's kind of skeezy. Holy crap! Charles is beating up Almanzo, and Almanzo called Laura a "little girl" and Laura's hearbroken and shouting that she's "A WOMAN!" which has been a theme of the past couple epsiodes, even though she looks like she's about 12 and I wish everybody would stop talking about Laura being a woman in such a creepy way.

If I have to stay inside with a washcloth on my face and a box of tissues at hand, at least I have the nonstop drama of Little House to entertain me.

2006-08-27T21:59:00.000-05:00

I can't get used to the nighttime news being at 10:00 here. The Fox affiliate news is at 9! Central time is just... weird.

I'm trying out local honey as a method of alleviating my allergies. Allegedly, ingesting pollens will build up your immunity to them. Not sure if it will work, but it's worth a shot. The honey guy at the Farmer's Market said it would have more of an impact in the spring than the fall. He seemed trustworthy so I bought some. I mean, he was wearing a beehive hat. If you can't trust a guy wearing a beehive hat, who can you trust?

Oh, yeah. Number of Nazis: 60. Number of Counter-Protesters: 800. Yep, diversity-loving Madisonians outnumbered lame bigots by over 1300%. Looooooooosers. Even God hates them! At precisely 2pm, when their lame rally started, the skies opened up and torrential rains poured down. Beautiful. At the Farmer's Market, some of the farmers were selling "Protester Tomatoes: Big and Mushy." I heard a little girl ask her father, "How come Nazis can come here?" Her father replied, "Because in America, you have the right to say whatever you want, no matter how ignorant and stupid. But that doesn't mean we have to listen to them." Then he gave his daughter a dollar to buy a cookie from a Hmong baker.

I think I love this town.

2006-08-25T16:58:00.000-05:00

Well, the hippies next door are playing their bongos again. Which would be fine, because I like drums, but this particular hippie isn't terribly good. Get some rhythm, man! Tap into your suburban-white-boy angst!

I guess they're taking semi-musical advantage of a break in the near-constant rain (and totally sweet thunderstorms) we've been having the past two days. The Midwest certainly doesn't skimp on their severe weather. I did notice, however, that they did not take down their proudly-displayed East German Commie Flag. Taking your flag out of the rain is for bourgeois capitalists, man! Actually I suspect they were all too stoned to remember.

In other No Longer Relevant Fringe Group News, apparently Nazis* are coming to town tomorrow to have a protest on the Capital Mall. Tomorrow is also the day of the Nation's Biggest Farmer's Market. Let's think about this a second: Nazis + The Kind of People Who Buy Locally-Grown Organic Food + Lots of Throwing-Sized Fruits and Vegetables = Fun for the Whole Family! You can bet I'll be there to see what's happening. I'm pretty sure the hippies next door will be, too.

*I find Nazis' continued presence in today's world especially laughable, because seriously, who do they think they're kidding? There's apparently a counter-protest scheduled, but that's just feeding these idiots' delusions that they're important. Ignoring them would really be the biggest blow to their sad, pathetic psyches.

2006-08-21T16:46:00.001-05:00

How to Feel Like the Star of One of Those "Girl* Making it On Her Own in the City" Movies on ABC Family**:

1. Dress for Success! Wear a flowy skirt that will billow nicely when a breeze hits it. Wear your hair down for the same reason. Sunglasses are a must, because of course the day is sunny and beautiful.

2. Location, Location, Location. Girls in the aforementioned movies are never walking down a boring, run-down residential street while a vaguely familiar non-offensive pop song is playing. No, they're out in the thick of things, among the bustling crowds! Choose a busy street in the center of town.

3. Walk the Walk. Even if you're lost and have no idea where you are or how to get where you're going, walk with confidence! With head held high, a confident stride and a spring in your step, no one will know you've been wandering the streets for hours trying to find the place to register your car and get a parking permit.

4. Music. Make sure bring your iPod or fauxPod, because the 1-800-Safe-Auto song that's stuck in your head won't really make you feel in charge. I recommend Dire Straits' "Money for Nothing," particularly the part where the opening guitar riff kicks in over the synth, because that is just badass. But really, anything with a good beat will work.

5. Attitude. This is what brings it all together. You own this city! Ain't nobody gonna slow you down, oh no. You're gonna make your dreams come true, doin' it your way! You're gonna make it after all!

*Dudes, you're out of luck on this. I'm not sure anyone makes "Guy Making it in the City" movies that don't involve murders or threesomes.
**Tutorials on Finding Quirky Yet Endearing Supporting Characters and Landing the Soul-Crushing Job that Inevitably Somehow Leads to Your Dream Career will be forthcoming. Or not.

2006-08-19T20:55:00.000-05:00

Feeling a bit blue after your parents leave and you're alone in a new city? It helps if your roommate has 500 cable channels and you get wireless internet. Yeah, I'm watching TV while tooling around online. Don't judge me, Star Trek is on. I'm powerless against the sexiness of Captain Picard.

The apartment has no A/C, but it's extremely pleasant with all the windows open. I can see the capitol dome from my room, and at night it's lit up and beautiful. The lake's a block and a half a way. I didn't see anywhere to hang my hammock, but I'll make it happen. It's a great neighborhood, the farmer's market is three blocks away. If I ever get a new camera/the old one fixed, I'll be posting photos. This place is going to be gorgeous in the Fall, particularly the Arboretum, where my parents and I went today. Although after the fall comes... The Winter. But it's way too early to think about that now. It's lovely out!

Ooh, now Under the Tuscan Sun is on! Great movie for starting in a new place. God bless you, Charter OnDemand Cable!

2006-06-14T11:18:00.000-05:00

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